The book, “the
Werewolf Complex” is, quite simply, a study of America’s obsession with violence as well as the exceptional proliferation of violence within American
society and pop-culture. The book( initially written in French but later translated to English by Amanda Pingree) approaches its subject from a unique angle, questioning whether modern American, and very much,
western society plays up the violent and criminally deranged as the dark and dangerous heroes while, simultaneously, ostracizing them for their role in reminding the
rest of us what we are capable of as human beings. The author, Denis Dudos, expresses the opinion that American’s feel that society is merely a finely balanced, even precariously tilting, force that contains and controls the
beast we all hold deep within us. At the same time, though, he toy’s with the idea that, while keeping the beast at bay, each individual wishes to run free setting loose his innermost savagery, thus envying those who are able to wholly give in to their darker sides. He dissects the manner in which the most frightening characters in criminal history have been made, over the years, into iconic figureheads of the popular culture. Manson, Dahmer, Bundy and many others, have been immortalized in film, music and art, having become an integral part of the
culture that gave birth to them. Can the rest of the world, with the widespread and massive influence of American culture permeating almost every western culture, escape slipping into the same ‘werewolf complex’ as America finds itself in today? Why is it that the serial killer trend is so abundant in America? Where does America’s fascination with these killers arise from? And, above all, why is it that these individuals, who were hunted in life, are idolized in death? These are just some of the question’s posed by ‘The Werewolf Complex’ and which it attempts to explain.
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